Portable computer and method of forming rear cover thereof

ABSTRACT

A portable computer and a method of forming the rear cover includes a display part, a front cover having a display opening through which a display surface of the display part is exposed, and a rear cover formed by forming a forming material, coupled to the front cover, and having a reinforcement member embedded therein along a plate surface direction thereof. Thus, the rear cover of the display part is improved in strength.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from Korean Patent Application No.2005-0085852, filed on Sep. 14, 2005, in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in itsentirety by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present general inventive concept relates to a portable computer anda method of forming a rear cover thereof, and more particularly, to aportable computer and a method of forming a rear cover thereof, in whicha rear cover of a display part is improved in strength.

2. Description of the Related Art

A portable computer is lightweight and compact, but can still outperforma general desktop computer, so that the portable computer offers variousconveniences that cannot be obtained from a general desktop computer.Further, the portable computer can be used almost everywhere, thusfurther expanding a usage scope over the general desktop computer. Ingeneral, the portable computer comprises an image forming part formingimages, and a computer main body supporting the image forming part andis also equipped with various types of hardware.

The image forming part of the portable computer comprises a display partsuch as a display panel to form images, a front cover supporting thedisplay part and defining an outer appearance, and a rear cover coupledto the front cover, interposing the display part therebetween. The rearcover serves to protect the display part such as an LCD panel, and isformed by die casting of a special material such as magnesium, or made,in a usual case, by forming of plastic. The portable computer is carriedin a bag due to its portability, and tends to be used without beingfixed at a certain place.

However, the rear cover of the conventional portable computer made ofplastic is likely to be deformed by external force, impact or the likewhen a user carries it through a crowded public transportation system ora heavy object such as a thick book is put on the rear cover of thefolded portable computer, so that the display part may be damaged. Suchdamage in the display part causes the LCD panel or the like to havedefectives such as white spots, pooling, etc. Further, the rear cover ofthe conventional portable computer made of the magnesium die castingimproves the strength thereof, but processes following the castingprocess, e.g., NC (numeric control) machining, oxidization coating andthe like, are so complicated that a cost of assembly is very high.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The general inventive concept provides a portable computer and a methodof forming a rear cover thereof, in which a rear cover of a display partis improved in strength.

Additional aspects and advantages of the present general inventiveconcept will be set forth in part in the description which follows and,in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned bypractice of the general inventive concept.

The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present general inventiveconcept may be achieved by providing a portable computer having adisplay part, including a front cover having a display opening throughwhich a display surface of the display part is exposed, and a rear covermade of a forming material, coupled to the front cover, and having areinforcement member embedded therein along a plate surface directionthereof.

The reinforcement member may include a plurality of through-holes formedtherein and arranged transversely on a plate surface thereof, so thatthe forming material can move in a transverse direction of the platesurface.

The reinforcement member may comprise a magnetic substance, so that thereinforcement member can be settled while the forming material isinjected.

The forming material includes an acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene resin,thereby enhancing fluidity.

The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present general inventiveconcept may also be achieved by providing a rear cover forming method ofa portable computer having a rear cover which is coupled to a frontcover with a display opening and, the rear cover forming methodincluding preparing a reinforcement member to be embedded in the rearcover along a plate surface direction of the rear cover, and upper andlower molds to form the rear cover, arranging the reinforcement memberin the lower mold, coupling the upper mold and the lower mold, injectinga forming material into a space formed between the upper mold and thelower mold, cooling the forming material, and separating the upper moldfrom the lower mold.

The rear cover forming method may include preheating the reinforcementmember to have a predetermined temperature before the arranging of thereinforcement member, thereby protecting the forming material fromdefect such as cracks while it is cooled.

The reinforcement member may comprise a magnetic substance, and thelower mold includes a permanent magnet to secure the reinforcementmember by a magnetic force with respect to the rear cover.

The reinforcement member includes a plurality of position determinationholes formed therein at predetermined positions of a plate surfacethereof, and the lower mold includes position determination pins tosettle the position of the reinforcement member corresponding to theposition determination holes.

The rear cover forming method may further include removing the rearcover by ejector pins movably provided in the lower mold, wherein therear cover is removed as the position determination pins push the rearcover after the ejector pins push the rear cover, thereby decreasingdefectives.

The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present general inventiveconcept may also be achieved by providing an image forming device usablewith a portable computer, including a display part, and a rear cover tocover the display part and including one or more reinforcement membersprovided therein.

The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present general inventiveconcept may also be achieved by providing a molding apparatus to form arear cover of an image forming device of a portable computer, themolding apparatus including an upper mold, a lower mold to contact theupper mold to form a space therebetween to form the rear cover, aposition determining core provided in the lower mold to position areinforcing member the space, and a nozzle to inject a forming materialinto the space to form a rear cover having a reinforcing member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and/or other aspects and advantages of the prevent generalinventive concept will become apparent and more readily appreciated fromthe following description of the exemplary embodiments, taken inconjunction with the accompany drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a portable computer accordingto an embodiment of the present general inventive concept;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an image forming part ofthe portable computer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a rear view illustrating a rear cover of the image formingpart of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a reinforcement member of theimage forming part of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a coupling state of therear cover with position determination pins in an apparatus tomanufacture the rear cover according to an embodiment of the presentgeneral inventive concept;

FIGS. 6A to 6D are schematic cross-sectional views illustrating aprocess of forming the rear cover in the apparatus of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of forming a rear coveraccording to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the presentgeneral inventive concept, examples of which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to likeelements throughout. The embodiments are described below so as toexplain the present general inventive concept by referring to thefigures.

Hereinafter, a portable computer 10 and a method of forming a rear cover40 of the same according to an embodiment of the present generalinventive concept will be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings.

In the portable computer 10 and a rear cover forming method of the sameaccording to the present general inventive concept, the portablecomputer 10, as illustrated in FIG. 1, comprises an image forming part30 to form and/or display images, and a computer main body 20 whichsupports the image forming part 30 and is equipped with various hardwareto generate a signal corresponding to the images. Referring to FIG. 1,the image forming part 30 of the portable computer 10 includes a frontcover 31 having a display opening through which a display surface of adisplay part 33 is exposed, and a rear cover 40 formed by forming aforming material like a plastic material to be coupled with the frontcover 31 and having a reinforcement member 50 (refer to FIG. 2) embeddedtherein along a plate surface direction of the rear cover 40.

The computer main body 20 comprises a casing 21 to define an outerappearance thereof, and a hinge part (not shown) provided at a rearportion of the casing 21 and coupled to the image forming part 30 torotatably support the image forming part 30. The computer main body 20further comprises a motherboard (not shown) with a central process unit(CPU) and a random access memory (RAM) mounted thereon, a keyboard 23used as an input device and provided in front of the computer main body20 without overlapping the motherboard, an auxiliary memory unit and thelike, and a touch pad 25 provided on a side of the keyboard 23 tocontrol a cursor on a screen of the image forming part 30. A connectionport (not shown) to connect with an earphone and a power source isprovided on one side of the casing 21. Further, a card slot (not shown)to which a communication card, a memory card and/or the like is mountedis provided on the other side of the casing 21.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an image forming part 30of the portable computer 10 of FIG. 1. The image forming part 30comprises the display part 33 with a flat display panel such as an LCD(liquid crystal display) to form and/or display the images, the frontcover 31 having the display opening through which the display surface ofthe display part 33 is exposed, and the rear cover 40 formed by forminga plastic material to be coupled with the front cover 31 and having thereinforcement member 50 embedded therein along its plate surfacedirection. The image forming part 30 is coupled to the hinge part 27 soas to rotate up and down with respect to the computer main body 20. Theimage forming part 30 is rotated down to be folded to the computer mainbody 20, and rotated up to be unfolded from the computer main body 20.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the display part 33 may comprise an LCD(liquid crystal display) type in which images are reproduced by applyingvoltages between thin films with small pixels to form the images, a PDP(plasma panel display) type that employs a gas discharge principle, etc.

The front cover 31 has the display opening through which the displaysurface of the display part 33 is exposed, and defines the outerappearance thereof. The front cover 31 is coupled with the rear cover40, interposing the display part 33 therebetween. The front cover 31 maybe coated with paint of a predetermined color to render the outerappearance more attractive.

FIG. 3 is a rear view illustrating the rear cover 40 of FIG. 2. FIG. 4is a perspective view illustrating a reinforcement member 50 of theimage forming part 30 of FIG. 2. Referring to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the rearcover 40 is formed by forming a plastic material, is coupled with thefront cover 31, interposing the display part 33 therebetween, and hasthe reinforcement member 50 embedded therein along the plate surfacedirection. The rear cover 40 may be coated with a paint of apredetermined color to render the outer appearance thereof moreattractive. Therefore, the rear cover 40 having the reinforcement member50 is stronger than that formed of only a forming material such asplastic without the reinforcement member 50, thus reducing damage to thedisplay part 33 due to impacts or the like.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a coupling state of therear cover 40 with position determination pins 83 in an apparatus tomanufacture the rear cover 40 according to an embodiment of the presentgeneral inventive concept. As illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3 and 5, a formingmaterial 60 forms the outer appearance of the rear cover 40 and has amaterial characteristics such that it can readily flow to be injectedinto a rear cover mold 95 (see FIG. 6B) when forming the rear cover 40.For example, a mixture of PC (poly carbonate) and ABS (acrylonitrilebutadiene styrene) may be used, rather than a mixture of PC and GF(glass fiber) 20%, the ABS is more fluid than a mixture of PC and ABS.

The reinforcement member 50 is embedded along the plate surfacedirection of the rear cover 40 formed by forming the plastic material.The reinforcement member 50 comprises a plurality of positiondetermination holes 51 (51 a, 51 b, 51 c, 51 d, and 51 e) formed with apredetermined size such that the reinforcement member 50 is arranged ata predetermined position of a lower mold 80, and a plurality ofthrough-holes 53 formed transversely on the plate surface thereof suchthat the forming material 60 flows to pass through the plate surface ofthe reinforcement member 50. The reinforcement member 50 is made of astainless steel, which is a magnetic substance and has a strongcorrosion resistance, such as 430ss (SUS (steel use stainless) 430).Thus, the position of the reinforcement member 50 can be settled bymagnetic force of a permanent magnet 91. The reinforcement member 50 maybe a flat plate shape without any irregular portion, but may havepredetermined irregular portions in a length or width direction toimprove the strength thereof as necessary.

The position determination holes 51 (51 a, 51 b, 51 c, 51 d, and 51 e)are horizontally formed in the plate surface of the reinforcement member50 to correspond to the size of position determination pins 83 (83 a, 83b, and 83 c to be described later) such that the position of theposition determination holes 51 (51 a, 51 b, 51 c, 51 d, and 51 e) ispredetermined when being arranged. The number and the positions ofposition determination holes 51 (51 a, 51 b, 51 c, 51 d, and 51 e) maybe varied according to the sizes and/or strengths of the reinforcementmember 50.

The through-holes 53 are horizontally and/or vertically formed in theplate surface of the reinforcement member 50 such that the formingmaterial 60 flows to pass through the plate surface of the reinforcementmember 50. The number and the positions of the through-holes 53 may bevaried according to material characteristics of the forming material 60,the temperature, the sizes of a mold, etc. Thus, the forming material 60can be injected entirely uniformly.

The position determination pins 83 (83 a, 83 b, and 83 c) can beprotruded from a plate surface of the lower mold 80 for the rear cover40 and move to determine the position of the reinforcement member 50when the reinforcement member 50 is arranged on the lower mold 80, andpresses the forming material 60 during a process of extracting the rearcover 40 (to be described later). A position determination core 87 (87a, 87 b, and 87 c) comprises a position determination pin hole 85 toaccommodate the position determination pin 83, and a permanent magnetaccommodating part 93 recessed from the plate surface of the lower mold80 corresponding to the permanent magnet 91 so as to accommodate thepermanent magnet 91.

The permanent magnet 91 is accommodated in the permanent magnetaccommodating part 93 of the position determination core 87 (87 a, 87 b,and 87 c). The permanent magnet 91 has a predetermined thickness and maybe annularly formed, but may take a variety of shapes as necessary. Thepermanent magnet 91 settles the reinforcement member 50 by magneticforce to prevent the reinforcement member 50 from being moved due toinjection of the forming material 60. That is, the reinforcement member50 is disposed on the position determining core 87 at a predeterminedposition within the forming material 60 according to a magnetic forcebetween the permanent magnet 91 and the reinforcement member 50 beforethe forming material 60 is inserted.

A plurality of ejector pins 89 a and 89 b are provided in the lower mold80 and push the forming material 60 to get the rear cover 40 off thelower mold 80. The ejector pins 89 are moved by an ejector pin actuator120, and the number and the arrangement position thereof may be variedaccording to a thickness, sizes or the like of the rear cover 40. Theejector pins 89 are disposed at positions misaligned with thethrough-holes 53 of the reinforcement member 50, so deformation of therear cover mold 95 due to applying pressure thereon can be reduced.

With such a configuration, the portable computer 10 according to thepresent general inventive concept and a process of forming the rearcover thereof will now be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

FIGS. 6A to 6D are schematic cross-sectional views illustrating aprocess of forming the rear cover 40 in the apparatus of FIG. 5. FIG. 7is a flowchart illustrating a method of forming a rear cover 40according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept. Asillustrated in FIGS. 6A and 7, in an upper mold forming operation(operation S210), an upper runner 71 is provided to inject the formingmaterial 60, thereby forming an upper part of the rear cover 40. In theupper mold 70, a cooling channel 73 a is formed, through which a coolingfluid flows to cool down the injected forming material 60.

In a lower mold forming operation (operation S220), the lower runner 81to guide the forming material 60 to be injected, a plurality of theposition determination pins 83 and the ejector pins 89 protruding fromthe plate surface are provided. The forming material 60 is injectedthrough the lower runner 81 to form a lower part of the rear cover 40.In the lower mold 80, a cooling channel 73 b is formed to cool down theforming material 60. The lower mold 80 is connected with a mold actuator110 (110 a and 110 b) to move the lower mold 80 during the formingprocess, and the ejector pin actuator 120 to move the ejector pins 89 topush the rear cover 40 and the like to get the rear cover 40 off thelower mold 80. Alternatively, the mold actuator 110 and the ejector pinactuator 120 may be connected with the upper mold 70. The mold actuator110 and the ejector pin actuator 120 may comprise a conventional drivingdevice, such as a motor, a hydraulic cylinder, a pneumatic cylinder orthe like in order to move the lower mold 80 and ejector pins 89.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, in a reinforcement member preheating operation(operation S230), the reinforcement member 50 in which the positiondetermination holes 51 and the through-holes 53 are formed are preheatedto have a predetermined temperature before a reinforcement memberarrangement operation (operation S235) (to be described later). Thepreheating of the reinforcement member 50 prevents the rear cover 40from cracking during cooling.

As illustrated in FIGS. 6A and 7, in the reinforcement memberarrangement operation (operation S235), the reinforcement member 50 isarranged on the lower mold 80 so as to be embedded in the formingmaterial 60. In the reinforcement member 50, the position determinationholes 51 and the through-holes 53 are formed as described above, so theposition determination holes 51 of the reinforcement member 50 arecoupled with the position determination pins 83 of the lower mold 80,and the reinforcement member 50 is disposed to the lower mold 80 bymagnetic force of the permanent magnet 91 embedded in the lower mold 80.

As illustrated in FIGS. 6B and 7, in an upper mold and lower moldcoupling operation (operation S240), the upper mold 70 and the lowermold 80 are coupled to each other to form the rear cover mold 95. Amethod of coupling the upper mold 70 and the lower mold 80 may comprisea vertical and a horizontal type of coupling. In the vertical type ofcoupling of the present embodiment, the reinforcement member 50 israrely moved during the forming process. As illustrated in FIG. 6B, therear cover mold 95 is a space formed by coupling the upper mold 70 andthe lower mold 80, in which the forming material 60 is injected to formthe rear cover 40.

As illustrated in FIGS. 6C and 7, in a forming material injectionoperation (operation S250), a forming material nozzle part 100 iscoupled to the upper mold 70, and the forming material 60 is injectedinto the rear cover mold 95 through the upper runner 71 and the lowerrunner 81. At this time, to increase fluidity of the forming material60, the upper runner 71 and the lower runner 81 are maintained at apredetermined temperature by a heater (not shown). The forming materialnozzle part 100 is provided with a nozzle main body 101, a screw 103 toinject the forming material 60 at a predetermined speed, and a nozzleheater 105 to maintain the forming material 60 at a predeterminedtemperature.

In a packing operation (operation S260), when the forming material 60injected in the rear cover mold 95 is partially cooled due totemperature difference from the upper mold 70, the lower mold 80 and thelike and is shrunken, a pressure is applied to the forming material 60again to fill the rear cover mold 95 completely.

In a forming material cooling operation (operation S270), the coolingfluid circulates through the cooling channel 73 formed in the upper mold70 and the lower mold 80, so that the forming material 60 is cooled downdue to a heat transfer of the cooling liquid. Thus, uniform cooling isachieved to prevent deformation of the rear cover mold 95. In thecooling process of the forming material 60, the sizes and thearrangement of the cooling channel 73 provided in the upper mold 70 andthe lower mold 80 may be changed according to the thickness, the sizesand the like of the rear cover mold 95 and the reinforcement member 50.For example, by arranging more cooling channels 73 around a thickportion with a great amount of the forming material 60, the coolingspeed can become uniform entirely. Further, the cooling fluid maycomprise oil, water or the like.

As illustrated in FIGS. 6D and 7, in an upper mold and lower moldseparation operation (operation S280), the mold actuator 110 is operatedto separate the lower mold 80 from the upper mold 70.

As illustrated in FIGS. 6D and 7, in a rear cover removing operation(operation S290), the position determination pins 83, the ejector pins89 and the like push the rear cover 40 to remove the rear cover 40 fromthe lower mold 80. Further, a corner part of the position determinationcore 87 may be rounded to remove the rear cover 40 readily. In the rearcover removing operation (operation S290), the position determinationpins 83, which push regions of the rear cover 40 formed of the thinforming material 60, are installed such that the position determinationpins 83 push the rear cover 40 after the ejector pins 89 push the rearcover 40. Thus, deformation of the rear cover 40 can be prevented duringthe removal of the rear cover 40.

Further, after being subjected to predetermined processes, the rearcover mold 95 may be coated with predetermined paint to make its outerappearance more attractive.

As described above, a rear cover is formed with a reinforcement memberembedded therein, so that a strength of the rear cover is improved toprotect a display part such as an LCD from damage, thereby reducingdamage and defects thereof. Further, a material having good fluiditysuch as ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) is used in a method offorming the rear cover, the reinforcement member is preheated to preventdefects such as cracks and the like during a cooling operation, andposition determination pins and ejector pins push the rear cover atdifferent time points to prevent deformation of the rear cover duringthe removal of the rear cover. Accordingly, the rear cover can be formedstably and readily.

As described above, in accordance with the present general inventiveconcept, there is provided a portable computer and a method of forming arear cover thereof, in which a rear cover of a display part is improvedin strength.

Although a few exemplary embodiments of the present general inventiveconcept have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by thoseskilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments withoutdeparting from the principles and spirit of the general inventiveconcept, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and theirequivalents.

1. A portable computer having a display part, comprising: a front coverhaving a display opening through which a display surface of the displaypart is exposed; and a rear cover made of a forming material, coupled tothe front cover, and having a reinforcement member embedded thereinalong a plate surface direction thereof.
 2. The portable computeraccording to claim 1, wherein the reinforcement member comprises aplurality of through-holes formed therein and arranged transversely on aplate surface thereof.
 3. The portable computer according to claim 1,wherein the reinforcement member comprises a magnetic substance.
 4. Theportable computer according to claim 1, wherein the forming materialcomprises an acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene resin.
 5. A rear coverforming method of a portable computer having a rear cover which iscoupled to a front cover with a display opening, the rear cover formingmethod comprising: preparing a reinforcement member to be embedded inthe rear cover along a plate surface direction of the rear cover, andupper and lower molds to form the rear cover; arranging thereinforcement member in the lower mold; coupling the upper mold and thelower mold; injecting a forming material into a space formed between theupper mold and the lower mold; cooling the forming material; andseparating the upper mold from the lower mold.
 6. The rear cover formingmethod according to claim 5, further comprising: preheating thereinforcement member to have a predetermined temperature before thearranging of the reinforcement member in the lower mold.
 7. The rearcover forming method according to claim 5, wherein the reinforcementmember comprises a magnetic substance, and the lower mold includes apermanent magnet to secure the reinforcement member by a magnetic forcewith respect to the rear cover.
 8. The rear cover forming methodaccording to claim 5, wherein the reinforcement member comprises aplurality of position determination holes formed therein atpredetermined positions of the plate surface thereof, and the lower moldcomprises position determination pins to settle the position of thereinforcement member corresponding to the position determination holes.9. The rear cover forming method according to claim 8, furthercomprising removing the rear cover by ejector pins movably provided inthe lower mold, wherein the rear cover is removed as the positiondetermination pins push the rear cover after the ejector pins push therear cover.
 10. An image forming device usable with a portable computer,comprising: a display part; and a rear cover to cover the display partand including one or more reinforcement members provided therein. 11.The portable computer according to claim 10, wherein the rear covercomprises a forming material.
 12. The portable computer according toclaim 10, wherein the reinforcement members have one or more positiondetermining holes formed therein at predetermined intervals.
 13. Theportable computer according to claim 10, wherein the reinforcementmembers have through holes formed therein.
 14. A molding apparatus toform a rear cover of an image forming device of a portable computer, themolding apparatus comprising: an upper mold; a lower mold to contact theupper mold to form a space therebetween to form the rear cover; aposition determining core provided in the lower mold to position areinforcing member within the space; and a nozzle to inject a formingmaterial into the space to form a rear cover having a reinforcingmember.
 15. The molding apparatus according to claim 14, wherein theposition determining core comprises permanent magnets corresponding tothe reinforcing members to secure a position of the reinforcing membersduring a molding operation.
 16. The molding apparatus according to claim15, wherein the position determining core comprises permanent magnetaccommodating parts to accommodate the permanent magenets therein. 17.The molding apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the permanentmagnets are provided at a predetermined portion of the lower mold toarrange the reinforcing members with respect to the rear cover.
 18. Themolding apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the positiondetermining core comprises position determining pins provided therein toprotrude from the a lower surface of the lower mold to be received inthe corresponding reinforcing member to properly locate thecorresponding reinforcing members.
 19. The molding apparatus accordingto claim 14, wherein the reinforcing member comprises one or more holes,and the lower mold comprises ejector pins to protrude from a lowersurface of the lower mold to be inserted into corresponding ones of theone or more holes to eject the rear cover from the lower mold.
 20. Themolding apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the upper moldcomprises ejector pins to protrude from a lower surface of the lowermold to eject the rear cover from the upper mold.
 21. The moldingapparatus according to claim 20, wherein the ejector pins correspond toportions of the rear cover having the corresponding reinforcing memberprovided therein to remove the rear cover after a molding operation. 22.The molding apparatus according to claim 14, wherein: the upper moldcomprises: an upper runner, and the lower mold comprises: a lower runnerto provide the forming material to provide the forming material to therear cover forming area.
 23. The molding apparatus according to claim14, wherein the forming material nozzle part comprises a screw to movethe forming material.
 24. The molding apparatus according to claim 14,wherein: the lower mold comprises cooling channels to cool the moldingapparatus; and the upper mold comprises cooling channels to cool themolding apparatus.